Internal squabbles cost us, admits Kenyon

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has admitted a breakdown in communication between manager Jose Mourinho and owner Roman Abramovich cost the club dearly last season and declared that a truce has been agreed to make sure there is no more internal strife.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has admitted a breakdown in communication between manager Jose Mourinho and owner Roman Abramovich cost the club dearly last season and declared that a truce has been agreed to make sure there is no more internal strife.

In recent interviews, Kenyon has rarely been as candid about the behind-the-scenes squabbling that prevented Chelsea securing either of their main targets last season - the Premiership and the Champions League.

Kenyon believes Chelsea cannot afford any more off-the-field turmoil if they want to achieve their ambitions and hinted that Mourinho and Abramovich had had a heart-to-heart to heal their differences over transfer targets and mutual support.

"I don't think anyone wants to repeat last year," Kenyon said. "The whole thing took too much time and effort away from a management point of view. We have a great set-up here and my disappointment about last year is that it took the edge off. We have spent a lot of time during the close season on why what occurred did occur and the issues we need to address."

Kenyon added: "We want to put this behind us and not keep regurgitating the same.We got to the stage last season when, until Jose started [back at work] again this month, we were never going to convince anybody that he wasn't on his way out. We want to put this behind us and draw a line under it."

Kenyon shrugged off concerns that, despite Abramovich's fortune, Manchester United had moved ahead in the spending stakes with £70 million so far invested in new players. Although Florent Malouda, the France midfielder, looks set to be signed for around £13.5 million, Chelsea's other recruits have mainly been Bosman frees.

Gone, it seems, are the days of blanket buying by Chelsea, but Kenyon was quick to point out that this was not down to lack of ambition. "Just having the money doesn't guarantee success," he said, reflecting on the team's results last season. "It's a question of what you do with it. We have not spent because we have got the players we wanted and don't believe in spending on players who will not add any benefit."

Some might argue Chelsea have done just that, Andrei Shevchenko and Michael Ballack being cases in point. But Kenyon defended the purchase of both players, stressing that first seasons in the Premiership for foreign stars are often tough.

"We don't subscribe to the suggestion that Andrei and Michael have been failures," he said. "We took a four-year commitment which we felt we needed to do to add value to the Chelsea squad.

''Both want to achieve much more and I am confident that their second season will be better than their first. I remember having this sort of conversation about Didier Drogba. We underestimate the settling-in time.''

Discussions continue over the contracts of Frank Lampard and John Terry, the former persistently linked with Barcelona. Asked if Chelsea had a wage ceiling, Kenyon answered: ''Yes.'' Asked who fixed that ceiling, he replied: "The board in conjunction with the owner."

Kenyon is reluctant to give figures but hopes outstanding contract issues can be tied up this week with pre-season training just round the corner.